Bizarre recruiting story

[Olympic Fan]

It's football, not basketball, but still ... Ohio State just lost one of the top linebacker recruits in the country because when he made his official visit to Columbus, he and several other prospects were met by -- and photographed with -- a convicted sex offender:

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/top-recruit-reneges-from-ohio-state-over-photo-with-sex-offender-050512/

The university denies that the guy has any connection to OSU or is even a booster. I guess I believe them, but what's he doing meeting and posing with kids on an official recruiting visit (who are escorted by staff or players almost all the time they are on campus)?

[BlueDevilBrowns]

It's football, not basketball, but still ... Ohio State just lost one of the top linebacker recruits in the country because when he made his official visit to Columbus, he and several other prospects were met by -- and photographed with -- a convicted sex offender:

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/top-recruit-reneges-from-ohio-state-over-photo-with-sex-offender-050512/

The university denies that the guy has any connection to OSU or is even a booster. I guess I believe them, but what's he doing meeting and posing with kids on an official recruiting visit (who are escorted by staff or players almost all the time they are on campus)?

Just a guess, but maybe he's a fan of the program and was excited to meet some potentially new recruits. I can see why OSU wouldn't want this person around and I can also see why the OSU recruit wouldn't want to be "connected" with a convicted sex offender but it doesn't necessarily mean the sex offender was up to anything criminal himself. At this point it just seems to be a non-story but because the term "sex offender" is involved, the media makes more out of it than necessary.

[WakeDevil]

Three points from what I have read elsewhere:

1. It was not an official visit, so the recruit probably didn't have a "minder" tailing him.
2. The contact took place at a bar. Why was tOSU responsible for the presence of either at this location?
3. His family was not keen on his going there, so this was an excuse to change schools.

[Jim3k]

So where is Duke on recruiting this guy?